School and Ears and Silence, Oh My!

Today was the first day back to school for my children. The twins started third grade and my oldest began middle school.

This past week has been chaotic. It has been a whirlwind of loose leaf paper, duo-tang folders and #2 pencils.

There have been haircuts for all and my daughter got her ears pierced. Again. Again because Mommy wasn’t careful the first time at 4 so they closed up with the second time at 6 being due to Baby Girl changing her mind and allowing them to close on purpose. Let’s hope the third time at 8 is the charm.

She got it done at Claire’s. It was about $58.00 using her birthstone.

New sneakers and uniforms were purchased to fit the new growth that summer has bestowed upon them. All three of them are taller and my oldest now owns a deeper voice to use when he introduces himself to new classmates.

I worry about it all. The twins are in separate buildings and what if he needs the comfort of seeing his sister? Visits between classrooms will not be as easily accommodated as in the past. My 12-year-old has to go to six different classes for the first time. What if he forgets where to go and why didn’t I remember to tell him which car line I would be in for pick up?

Then there was silence today.

There was no one asking questions from the back seat after drop off. I didn’t have to arrange for someone to watch my children for my check-up. I went into Barnes & Noble alone. ALONE. I was able to take my time and read the back of each novel whose intriguing cover beckoned me. There were no tantrums or demands for food or whining to go home for video games. I skimmed and peeked until I realized I was out of time. I would only have 20 minutes to make something for lunch before it was back into car line. It was a quiet ride back to the apartment aside from the music that played out of a station of my choosing.

Car line seemed so long as people cut in (merged) line and my heart raced a bit. The temp reading was 95 and I knew my babies were sitting out there waiting to see our family car come around the curve. After those long moments passed, I was able to slide open the door so they could scramble into their seats.

I don’t know who had a bigger smile, them or me. I couldn’t be happier to see them especially since they both wanted to tell me about their wonderful day!

A small break back home and we were back out into a new car line. I stressed over whether we would find him until my daughter spotted him and he waved. From him, there wouldn’t be the sharing of the minutia of each new teacher. There weren’t the notes I had asked for about missing supplies and teacher wish lists. I didn’t care. I was so grateful to see him safe and sound.

The three chattered to themselves, each other and me; the silence was gone.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

you MUST enable javascript to be able to comment

Notify me of new posts by email.

Notify me of follow-up comments via e-mail

This site has a mission. It is a journey to gain self-acceptance and then to go beyond that to the celebration of all the little bits and pieces of me. There are parts of me that I’ve slowly grown to love, such as my curiosity and passion for learning new things. Read More…